Harris for Mayor, again.
Ballin, Cranwell, Fitzy, Lea, Price, Rosen, and Wyatt for Council. All Dems.
And Lockard in the Ross Perot position.
Not one outstanding person among the lot of them. Not one worthy of public attention. Although interestingly, Rosen and Ballin are both young'ins - which is interesting.
So far, those are the two I really want to hear from, as they "represent" the younger citizens of Roanoke far better than the geriatric council does now.
Will they make it? Nope. Let's be honest about it. They do not have the name recognition (and by that I mean the well-known name because daddy did something good - like Fitz or Cranwell), nor do they have the experience (in the 'One Manager to rule them all' world anyway). Of course, we do not know their views on certain things. The same could be said for all the candidates.
Some questions for them:
What is to become of the old Victory Stadium site? Will it be an Ampitheater, soccer fields, or perhaps a good location for the new 'mega-library'? Because, right about now - ain't much o nothing going on there, and it's looking pretty sad. Plus- the location of the new hotel on Reserve, speaking of ugly, is there nothing the city can do to prevent it from looking like it does? I understand there are delays and such, but does it need to be an eyesore? Is there no slipcover we can put over it?
And about that ampitheater? Downtown, or not? Or can we put something similar (and cost-effective) downtown that has multiple purposes?
Is Rockledge even an issue? Or is it one of those fear-mongering things tat will be a great tool that the City actually has very little say over. Regardless of whatever may happen, the courts still have the last word on this one, due to the covenants on the mountain. And no Lugar or Burcham interpretation matters a hill of beans in the face of a legal decision.
The Market Building, and downtown in general should be the forefront of this election - as this is our main attractor/collector for new arrivals and new businesses. Too many vacant buildings still - too little sensible planning, and that exploded bathysphere of a zero-to-bankrupt Art Museum. Theres more loans being floated there then in all the banks during the Flood of '85.
This is by no means going to be an easy election - our choices suck so far. And with the importance of the Downtown issues, and the education of our children always in the balance - we need the heroes of tomorrow today.
We need the ones who can walk in and change the world - who do not get bogged down in endless debate and study, and most of all - we need someone as Mayor who can effectively handle the job, and be a leader - not a preacher.
But so far - Harris is our only choice, and I'm not sure whats more depressing. That, or the fact the pack so far is nothing but Democrats.
